Awakening
by GypsyWillow11
Summary: Set about right after the movie ended with a few tweaks here and there. Elsa deals with her pregnancy, conflicting feelings, and she gets sent through a loop when Dren is not only alive, but wants to nest with her before the baby is born.
1. Chapter 1

I most definitely HATED the way they just left us hanging at the end of Splice. So this is basically how I wish it had been continued.

I do not own Splice the movie or its characters.

Elsa never showed weakness.

Eighteen years of mental, physical, and emotional abuse from her psychotic mother taught Elsa that she never wanted to be put in any situation where she didn't have control. That's part of why she became a scientist, so she could always be in charge of her work at least. Of course, her resolve for gaining the upper hand has brought her a reputation.

In college, when her boyfriend slapped her during a fight, she'd grabbed her softball bat and broke the arm he'd swung at her. She nearly got expelled for that one. After she joined N.E.R.D., before she started dating Clive, she would always stick her nose into other's experiments and tests, earning her the nickname "Wicked Witch of the West Lab". After she started working on the "Splice" project with Clive and his team, she'd left others alone and became close with many of them. And when she'd caught Clive and Dren in their escapade in the barn, when she wanted to throw up and cry at the same time, she simply turned and ran back to her car. Before Clive even had a chance to pull up his pants, Elsa had already decided that Dren needed to be done with at last.

Dren. Her most intricate experiment. Her pseudo-daughter. And now, her impregnator.

Just thinking how Dren had gone from a little girl she'd taken care of when sick, to a sexually-mature male who killed three men, and raped her in a snowy forest, made her sick to her stomach. Elsa hated Dren. Elsa loved Dren. Elsa was confused, and her pregnancy making her emotionally unstable didn't help her at all. Some days, she wanted to throw herself down a flight of stairs, to kill either herself or the fetus. Some days, she was extremely excited to give birth, thought of names, and wondered if she should build a nursery, before she remembered that the baby would never be in her home, it would always be in N.E.R.D. laboratories.

Today was one of those _other_ days. A day where it took her two hours to get up to do anything besides urinate. A day where she tried to think of anything but the semi-human creature growing in her uterus. Where she just slumped around the old farmhouse all day, watching TV, and eating anything that didn't require more than a microwave. On her normal days, she'd clean, do her pre-natal stretching, take her vitals record them on her chart. But today, she wanted to do nothing but brood, and think about her current situation.

After the incident, and once she'd discovered she was pregnant, she sold the loft she'd shared with Clive, and moved into her mother's old house. The barn had burned down the night Dren attacked her. So preoccupied with running from Dren and trying to find Gavin, they'd forgotten about the bonfire of Dren's things they had started. It had spread to the barn, and the smoke caused the neighbors four miles down the road to call the fire department and police. They'd put out the barn, searched the woods, and found Elsa unconscious next to the bodies of Clive and Dren. William Barlow was found up in a tree with his neck broken. They never found Gavin's remains.

After she had accepted Joan's company's offer for her silence, she'd moved into a hotel for a couple of months while she had the old farmhouse repaired and restored. It now resembled nothing of the dreary, prison-like state it had been when her mother left it. When Elsa walked around, it gave her no memories of her childhood. She no longer heard a residual voice in her head that sounded like her mother screaming at her as she did in her youth. She was almost at peace with that part of her past.

A firm thump from her womb brought her out of her thoughts and into the world at the moment. Placing a hand on the spot where she felt the kick, she lightly drummed her fingertips against her firm stomach and felt another kick. Then she remembered, she had to call Joan. After signing the silence contract, Joan had asked her time and time again what she planned to do with the…child. Elsa had told her she was going to most likely donate it to N.E.R.D., find what genetic compounds had been passed from Dren to his seed. She knew there was no way she'd be able to raise it as a normal child, even if it may've _looked_ as normal as her. Joan understood, and over the past six months had become a sort of friend to Elsa, not just a financial provider for her lab. After all, Joan was the only person in the world she could talk to about what was happening to her.

Elsa muted the television and grabbed her cell phone. She called the contact labeled _Joan Chorot_. After two rings, she picked up.

"Elsa, wonderful for you to call." Hearing Joan's familiar accent lightened Elsa's mood, if just a tad.

"Hi Joan, how're you doing?"

"Fantastic. Elsa dear, are you feeling alright? I haven't heard from you in nearly a week. I was going to drive out to your house today after work and come see you."

"I'm fine, Joan. I've just been preoccupied lately", was Elsa's reply. "But I'd certainly enjoy your company tonight."

"Well then, I'll be over around six tonight. Is there anything you'd like for me to bring?"

"Well, I've sort of been craving chicken Caesar salads from Giorgio's on Harper Avenue. I'm so far out of town that I just haven't gotten out there. Think you could bring me maybe three or four of them?" Elsa started picking at a loose string on her shirt, a bit self-conscious at her ridiculous request. She rarely left the house anymore, only to supermarkets and some maternity stores when she grew too big for the clothes she had. Once in a while she'd visit N.E.R.D. for business, but she never went to see the old research team. She just couldn't face them, not the way she was.

"Of course Elsa. I understand. I'll see you tonight."

"See you later Joan." And she hung up.

Elsa looked at her phone and went into her contacts. There were only three numbers.

_Dr. Michelle Clark (Ob/Gyn)_

_Joan Chorot_

_Maria Nicoli (Clive's mother)_

Elsa's thumb hovered over the last number. She hadn't talked to Mrs. Nicoli much since Clive's funeral. His mother had been told that they had been mugged and in an attempt to save Elsa, Clive was shot and killed. Maria had been inconsolable, she had lost Clive and Gavin was still "missing". She had hung off of Elsa's form the whole day, barely able to stand. Maria Nicoli was a very kind woman whom Elsa was always fond of. She had become practically a second mother in the seven years Elsa was with Clive. She had accepted Elsa like the daughter she always wanted.

But Elsa knew she couldn't possibly go see Maria. Not in the condition she was in, no matter how much Elsa wanted to go console the still-grieving mother. If Maria saw Elsa, she would immediately believe the child to be Clive's. She'd want to dive into the baby's life as a grandmother. She would be so happy to still have a part of Clive, it would break her heart to find that her son wasn't the father, but rather his quasi-animal experiment was. The poor woman would probably have a stroke.

'_But after all that she's been through, everything that's my fault, the very least I can do is call her_,' Elsa thought. She took a deep breath, went to Maria's number, and set her phone down on the coffee table. She had a sudden and strong craving for that last bag of popcorn in her cupboard. '_I'll call her after I've had my snack_', she said in her mind while waddling slowly to the kitchen.

Well, how is it? It's just the first chapter, there's a lot more to come. It's just gonna be a little bit until I can straighten it out in my mind and type it down. Reviews are welcomed and appreciated!

~Squirrels are so wise!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 is up! Sorry I took so long! It's a really stressful time of year, lol.**

**I do not own the movie Splice or any of its characters.**

"Ms. Chorot, may I leave for the day?"

Joan looked up at her assistant, Dana. Dana was a nice girl, if a bit of an airhead. She'd applied at N.E.R.D. saying she wished to further her mind, but Joan knew it was just in the hopes of seducing one of the lab's wealthy benefactors. But, she did her job and she did it well, so Joan had nothing to complain about her.

"Yes, Dana. There's nothing more I need of you today. Just remember to turn off your computer and drive safely." The younger woman smiled brightly, already thinking about her plans for the evening. She would most likely be going home, slipping on something small and sultry, and then meeting up with friends at a club for drinks, dancing, and a bounty of young men. '_Ahh, to be 25 again_', Joan reminisced.

"Thank you Ms. Chorot." And Dana was gone.

Joan took her assistant's incentive and shut down her own computer. She grabbed her purse and locked her office door, noticing Dana's desk already empty. She shook her head and entered the elevator, pressing **G**.

Walking through the dark lobby and parking lot to her car, Joan remembered to pick up Elsa's strange craving. Joan felt for the poor woman. After all, working for a laboratory, she understood the reasoning behind Elsa and Clive's drive for success, their drive for scientific advancements. They just didn't anticipant, and who ever could, the conclusion to their experiment. And of course, she so loved the chemical compounds contained in Dren's DNA. She just wished that so many people didn't have to die for it.

Once settled in her Mercedes-Benz R-Class Crossover, she located Giorgio's restaurant on her GPS. Joan couldn't help but be amused at Elsa's coy response to her pregnancy, sounding embarrassed when asking for the chicken Caesar salads. That was probably just another thing reminding her of Clive. Not having the child's father to go out in the middle of the night for her sudden and strange cravings, only waking up to empty space next to her, must be difficult to deal with. Joan remembered going through her own two pregnancies. Though her marriage didn't last, her ex-husband Gregory was supportive and loving to her when she woke him at 3am for treacle tarts and ice cream.

Joan then thought of her children while driving. Her eldest, her son Thomas, lived in France with his wife Clarice. He was a lawyer for a large car company, and she only saw him on holidays and her birthday. He was closer to his father, who lived near him in Toulouse.

Her daughter, her baby Amanda, lived in America, but not in California with her. She lived in New York, attending New York School of Design. Her dream was to be a world-famous fashion designer, have her pieces worn in shows all around. Joan saw her often, flying her in at least twice a month for weekends away from school. Elsa reminded her of Amanda, and after a visit with her, she'd always call her daughter just to see how she was doing. And knowing Elsa's situation with her own mother, Joan had taken to her like a close aunt.

Once she pulled up in front of the restaurant, Joan cut off her car and entered the restaurant, thinking she may get something for herself. Might as well, she'd probably be at Elsa's for a while.

Back at N.E.R.D., something terrible was about to happen.

What Joan didn't know, was that Dana had NOT turned her computer off. The young woman had neglected to do so, figuring the machine would automatically shut down after half an hour of non-use, as it usually did. And Joan herself had walked right past it and didn't even notice.

Now, normally, this wouldn't have been a problem. Except, Dana didn't know that Dr. Frederick Duscharm down in Microbiotics had opened up a virus e-mail earlier that day. It caused his computer to freeze, but Geek squad couldn't make it to the lab to fix it until the next day. His doctorate being in biology and not technology, Dr. Duscharm thought nothing of it. But by six o'clock that evening, the virus had spread all the way up to the last working computer in the building- Dana's.

Millions of bits of information per second pumped into the PC. It destroyed files, changed addresses and phone numbers, and shut down every running piece of equipment in the building. Every light, automatic door and freezer in the building stopped working. Including freezer number 13 in Unit 4 of the underground storage level.

So what? What was so special about it? It was an unlucky number anyway. Blame it on the number, but there was something special about freezer 13. It was small- 13 ft by 10 ft with an 8 ft high ceiling. It contained frozen experiments, successful, failed or otherwise. It had mutated rats with 3 tails in crates, the "leftovers" of Fred and Ginger, and Dren's body.

*The Next Morning*

Lionel Mitchell was pissed off. When he woke up this morning, he had no idea he'd be spending the day cleaning rotting flesh out of broken freezers. If he did, he'd have called in sick. But then again, Lionel was a 47-year-old college drop-out, divorced, paying child support on three kids, and his new girlfriend was pregnant. Needless to say, he wasn't happy, especially with his job.

After his construction business went under, he was forced to take the only job around- a "hazardous waste disposal technician". Lionel was a janitor, at N.E.R.D. Laboratories.

The night before, some secretary's computer made the entire electrical system crash. For some unknown reason, the generators hadn't turned on, meaning everything in the freezers (corpses) were just decomposing away in there. And guess what Lionel had been assigned to? Yup, the freezers.

He was just finishing Unit 4, and was about to go on to the last one, when he heard it. Some crazy repeated banging, like a person trying to punch a hole in the wall of the unit. Lionel could do nothing but stare at the door rattling against its hinges. He wanted to run, but his feet felt like they were glued to the floor. He couldn't move. The banging became louder and faster, before suddenly, it all stopped. There were no sounds, no rattling, nothing.

Lionel knew he should've run. Run away and tell his supervisor, or anyone for that matter, about what he heard and what happened. But he didn't. Instead, he decided that he should open the freezer himself and see exactly what was making the noise. Not a very smart man.

As he tentatively moved towards the door, he tried to think of what could've made the noises. No one had been in freezer 13 for about eight months, so it wasn't a fellow worker that had been accidently shut inside. Surely no animals had been locked inside; they'd be dead by then. What animal could've even made that sound anyway? By the time he reached the door, he was trying to convince himself it was something scientific. Something like the cold expanding objects and space or something like that. Remember, he was a college drop-out.

Nothing happened when he grasped the handle. Nothing happened when he swiped the keycard. Nothing happened when he pushed the handle down. Nothing happened when he cracked the door open slightly. All that happened was he was hit with the stench of every dead mammal in the small space. It made him momentarily forget there was something in there that tried to break down the door.

"Holy shit, these scientists are fucking freaks." He opened the door all the way, "What th-"

Since Lionel was the only one assigned to the freezers, no one heard his screams of agony as he was ripped apart limb by limb.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi Everyone! Gypsy's back! Sorry I took so long, but it's been a crazy time right now! I know, I know, no excuses. So, without further ado, here's chapter 3!

Elsa woke up feeling very calm. For the first time in eight months, she'd actually slept the whole night through. Her nights were usually plagued with insomnia, and those that weren't had her waking up from nightmares. Nightmares that involved reliving that night, and how she wished she could have stopped it. She would wake at 3 or 4 in the morning and just try to keep herself busy. She found that dwelling on the nightmare wasn't helpful at all.

But this time, Elsa's sleep was deep and dreamless. She awoke without aches and pains, but with the same urge to pee as every 35-week pregnant woman.

When she entered the bathroom, she decided to take a shower as well. Elsa adjusted the water to the appropriate temperature and jumped in. Her mind wandered while she washed up. She thought about the night before when Joan had brought her latest craving. While she devoured 3 salads in about 10 minutes, Joan brought her up to date on her old team. At the moment, they were trying to manufacture and enzyme they'd found in Dren's remains. It supposedly helped chickens grow larger to help them support themselves with their steroid-infused breasts. Knowing that made Elsa temporarily eat around the grilled chicken. Thinking about her old team made Elsa nostalgic. Joan then began to ask Elsa about what she would do after delivery.

*Flashback*

_Elsa took a sip of her water and looked at Joan._

"_Okay then, what will I be doing when I get back?"_

"_Well, since you most likely won't want to work with your original team, I found a different position for you in the neurobiology department."_

"_But, my doctorate is in Microbiology."_

"_I know, and you will be working in a microbiology field. You'll be studying the brain cells of those with neurological disorders, try to find a treatment or cure for many different diseases." Elsa contemplated this while eating._

"_Sounds alright, pretty uniform work I presume?"_

"_Not as exciting as splicing animal genes and creating new species, but I figure you've had enough excitement in that field for a lifetime." Elsa stared at her salad, silently agreeing with Joan. She finished her food and got up to waddle to the trashcan. Joan couldn't help but chuckle at Elsa's movement._

"_Elsa dear, you look like you're about to pop", she said light-heartedly. Elsa let a small laugh slip._

"_True, I'm huge. I feel like a beached whale when I'm lying in bed."_

"_I know exactly how you feel. In my last week with Thomas, I refused to leave the house because I felt too big to fit through the door." Both women laughed, enjoying the shared feeling. "Have you been…feeling a lot of movement?" The air began to go stale, and would soon become cold._

"_Yes, very strong too. It sometimes wakes me up at night." That, and remembering its conception._

"_Well, only a few more weeks and you'll never be kicked by it again."_

"_I'll also never see my child again." The tension became thick. Elsa and Jean looked straight at each other._

"_Elsa, as a friend, I sympathize with you and understand what you feel. But as a scientist, and because of your __**loss**__, I must remind you that this isn't a normal pregnancy by __**any**__ length of the imagination. It's not just the fruit of your looms, but also that of a half-human creature you and Clive manufactured in a lab. One of which you used your own ovum for."_

"_I did __**NOT**__ use my own egg to create Dren!" Elsa slammed her hands on her kitchen counter in anger. Clive had suggested the same thing. It made her sick to think both her boyfriend and her boss would think she'd be that sick. "Check the DNA, Dren was created from an anonymous donor, not me."_

"_That may be true, but that's not the point. The point is that fetus inside of you is N.E.R.D. property. You signed over your parental rights to us four months ago."_

"_I know that," Elsa snapped. She took a deep breath and repeated, "I know that. I'm not saying I'm suddenly having second thoughts and want to keep it, because I don't. I'm just saying my maternal instinct is kicking into high gear lately. It's making me feel guilty for selling something with half my DNA to a lab for experiments." Elsa whispered the last part. Joan, with mixed feelings herself, grasped her hand._

"_I understand, truly I do. I don't know what I would do if I were in your position. All you can do is what you think is right. And believe me; giving the specimen to N.E.R.D. Laboratories is the right thing to do." She couldn't find anything to say, so she simply nodded her head._

_After that, Joan decided it was time to leave. Elsa gave her the vitals she'd recorded. Promised to call her the next day, and went to bed as soon as Joan drove off. Elsa was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow._

*End Flashback*

Elsa sighed, still mentally exhausted from the night before. She closed her eyes and leaned against the cool tile wall as the hot water beat against her back. She was about to fall asleep again when she was jolted by her phone ringing. She turned off the water and stepped out of the warm, steamy stall into the icy air. While wrapping a towel around her large belly, Elsa cursed living in Connecticut. Cold September days like this made her yearn for California beaches.

Elsa waddled as fast as she could, but her phone still cut to voicemail before she could reach it.

"Damn it!" Elsa cursed. She went about getting dressed while the machine played the message.

"Elsa, its Joan. If you're there, please pick up the phone," Joan sounded distressed, but she continued to talk so Elsa kept pulling up her yoga pants. "Listen, I don't want to worry you or stress you out any, but… there was an accident at the lab. A computer virus caused all electricity in the building to shut down. All the freezers stopped and everything inside them went bad except-"Elsa paused at pulling down her shirt. She was about to turn to see why the machine suddenly stopped when she heard it.

Clicking.

Then breathing.

Elsa's heart dropped into her stomach. The tears began to swell in her eyes. There was no way, no _possible_ way. She'd killed him herself. She herself had landed the fatal blow. He was dead. He was dead. He was dead…

Elsa swallowed the lump in her throat. Holding her breath, she swung herself around. Got it over with quick. She knew Dren wasn't there. His corpse was frozen at N.E.R.D., she was alone in her house, and it was just her imagination.

She was wrong.

Standing not three feet away from her was Dren. Her creation and father of her fetus, who she killed herself, was standing in her bedroom with the answering machine cord hanging in his hand. His wings were out, her window was wide open, and he was stark naked. But Elsa didn't notice any of that. All she could see was his eyes. His dark, intense eyes, they felt like they were cutting into her soul. They made her completely tremble. Tears slipped from her eyes and down her face.

"Dren…" Elsa whispered. Dren's chin lifted and he opened his mouth.

"Elllsssssaaaaaaaa," his voice was deep, scratchy and he struggled to speak, but he _did_ speak. Hearing his voice shocked Elsa to the core. He said her name. Dren spoke to her. They weren't the first words he ever said, but it was the first time her name came from his mouth. It was the last thing Elsa remembered before blacking out.


End file.
